Bucket elevator



E. C. SLATER BUCKET ELEVATOR Filed Dec. l0, 1931 llllllll lllllllllllllll ./.NVENTOR Eymer C 5/aer HTTY'S.

Patented Aug. 29, 1933 UNITED STATES BUCKET ELEVAIII R Elmer C. Slater, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, Columbus, Ohio, a corporation ofv Ohio Application December` 10,l 1931 Serial No. 580,202

'z claims.V (ol. 19a- 207) The present invention relates to elevators for lifting material from a boot to a point of discharge,V and is here shown as applied to' bucket elevators. n

It will be understood that the present disclosure 1s illustrative, and in no sense restrictive, of the invention, as it may be applied to elevators other thanthespecic type shown, and its mechanical make-up can'alsobevaried from that disclosed. Thev invention has for its object to provide an elevator construction" in which adjustment of the flexible conveyor for the purpose of taking up slack'may'be made without varying the working relationof that conveyor to the hopper which receives the material to be elevated, so that the' same operative relation of the elevating instrumentalities tothe mass toV bev lifted will be maintained. Furthermore, the' construction is such that elevator chain slack may be taken up without the necessity of disassembling the elevator shaft or boot with which such elevators arevordinarily used, the adjustments being made readilyY from the outside of the shaft or boot.

V.The object of my invention is accomplished by here shown as the foot shaft for the flexible ele`- vating element, is mounted, sothat', by adjusting the bearings, the iiexible elevating element or chain may be adjusted for slack, and, furthermore, providing a hopper inwhich the buckets yor equivalent elevating devices carried by the chain operate, supported by and adjustable with the bearings, so that the bearings and the material receiving hopper will take the same adjustments and be held always in thesame relation to one another.

In' the drawing herewith is disclosed one physical embodiment of my invention, and insaid' and a portion of an elevator stack, with my invention applied thereto. Y

Figure 2 is a sectional view substantiallyon the line 2 2 of Figure 1, looking inthe direction of numbers indicating like parts in the several.

views','10indcates the boot'of theV elevator structure, made up of angle irons and plates'in acproviding adjustable bearings in which a shaft,

Figure 1 isa side-elevation of an elevator bootcordance with any approved construction, saidV boot having any suitable receiving aperture 11 through which the material being handled may be poured. Rising from said boot is an elevator A stack 12 of any suitable construction in which 60 travelsY the flexible elevator mechanism, here` shown as a sprocket v`chain 13,r provided` with buckets 1,4, although'it will be understood that other types of elevating devicesmay be used.

It is customary in' equipment of this kind to 65 provide a foot shaft in the boot over which the chain Will run, and a head shaft (notshown) at the top of the elevator Vstack overv which the upper` night ofy the chain passes and at which v point delivery of the elevated material is made, the chain or other elevating element travelling in therdrirection of the arrows shown in Figure 1,V so yasjto scoop the material from the boot onl its down run and carry it upwardV to the delivery point on its up'run. K

It has been customary to use ixed hoppers in connection with devices of this kind, having curved bottoms conforming tothe path of' travel of the buckets, so that material delivered to the hoppers would be picked up and elevated. vIt is not infrequently necessary to adjust the flexible elevating element or chain, which, through wear or stretching, develops slackinterfering with its e'iciency, and some times causing a run-off of the chainA from the pulley or sprocket overwhich it travels.

l In the present construction the bucket chain 13 is' shown' engaging a sprocket 15` mounted upon a shaft 16 which is carried in bearings 17, which Vbearings are adjustably hung from 90 screw shafts 18 pivotally coupled at 19 with said bearings, the screw 'shafts 18 being coupledwith turning nuts 20 mounted in brackets 21v secured to angle irons 22`A onthe sides of the boot and provided withspanner holes by which they may beturned in their seats in the brackets. The K turning nutsfhave sprocket wheels 23 andare coupled across the boot by a chain 24 which extendstransversely between the runs of the b 'ucket elevator, so that it does not interfere with 100 the moving parts. y K

VBy this, construction it will be seen that the bearings 17, the shaft 16, and the sprocket and. bucket chain, can be raised and lowered simultaneously and evenly by turninga nut 20 on either 105 side of the boot, so as to adjust the chain, to takeout slack,'or to easethe chain off, as mayV be desired.

The vbearings 17 are provided with brackets. 25, to which are secured a hopper 26, which, as shown 110 in Figure 1, is of an area to substantially fill the boot 10, it being here shown as of scoop formation, so that the material dumped into the mouth 11 of the boot will fall into the hopper 26. The hopper may be fastened to the brackets in any suitable way, as by means of bolts, so that upon adjustment of the shaft 16, bearings 17, and the bucket chain, the hopper 26 will also be adjusted and maintain always the same relation to the path of travel of the buckets 14. This insures that the bucket load taken from the hopper 26 will not be effected by any relative movements of the hopper and the bucket. This has the advantage, of course, of maintaining a constant load for the bucket chain, and all danger,"

such as existed in the old construction, where there was relative movement between the bucket chain and the hopper, of bringing the buckets too close to the bottom of the hopper in taking out slack, so as to interfere with the travel of the buckets, or of adjusting the buckets too far away from the bottom of the hopper, in event of the chain being shortened, with consequent accumulation and packing of material in the bottom of ,b the hopper, is eliminated.

The sides of the boot are provided with lateral openings 27 between the angle bars 22, so as to permit adjustments relative to the boot, and on each side of these openings, and preferably bolted 4to the angle bars 22, as shown, are housings 28 to receive the bearings, the screw shafts 18 passing through apertures in the tops of the housings.

In order that the bearings and their supported parts may be properly held against side lash, and

`.also guided in their up and down movements, 'the housings 28 are provided with guide ribs 29 engaged by channel members 30 on the bearings, so that during the operation of the bucket chain, there can be no lateral shifting of the bearings,

fand when the screw shafts are operated to raise and lower them, they will be accurately guided Within the housings.

The hopper 26 is preferably guided, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, by means of guide ribs 31 on the sides of the hopper which engage ribs 32 Jon the inner walls ofthe boot 10these guiding elements, as will be seen, being at right angles to the guiding elementsfor the bearings just described, so that, with this doubleset of guides,

f v any tendency of the hopper, the bearings, or the 26 cover the apertures 27 in the walls of the boot plates 33, which overlap corresponding shield supported parts to shift or play during the operation of the machine is avoided, and, furthermore, the parts are accurately guided when adjustment is made. Y

It will be observed that the sides of the hopper from shaft downwardly, so that escape of dustis effectively prevented, and in order to guard against escape of dust at the upper end of the apertures 27, there is preferably provided shield plates 34, depending from the top of the hopper, as shown in Figure 2, so that objectionable escape of dust through the upper part of the aperture` -27 is eliminated. Preferably, and as here shown,

mthe depending shield plates 34 will be joined to the side walls of the boot by downwardly inclined sections 35, so that there are no abrupt projections against which the buckets on the chain can Ai boot.`

The boot may be provided, as shown in Figure 1, with any suitable hand hole in its wall, covered by a suitable cover plate 38, so as to permit inspection or the removal of foreign particles lodged in the hopper, without the necessity of taking it down.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that an elevator is provided which may be readily adapted to existing'boots and stacks without involving any substantial changes in the general set-up and by means of which the active elements of the equipment, namely, the elevating chain and the material receiving hopper, can be maintained always in the same relative position, no matter what adjustments may be made. Furthermore, the adjustments may be readily made without the necessity of dismantling or taking down the boot or stack. so that. after once installed. the shifts necessary to take out slack or to ease off the chain may be quickly and conveniently made.

Such changes from the disclosure here made as aremere mechanical variations can. of course, be made and still remain within the purview my invention.

I claim:

1. In elevating apparatus, a boot having vertically extending slots in opposite side walls thereof, outwardly projecting boxes secured to said boot in closing relation to said slots, shaft journals guided in said boxes for vertical adjustment, a conveyor foot shaft journaled in said journals, a hopper connected to said journals for adjustment therewith and means to vertically adjust and support said shaft and hopper with respect to the. boot.

2. In elevating apparatus, a boot having vertically, extending slots in opposite side walls thereof, outwardly projecting boxes secured to said boot in'closing relation to said slots, shaftA journals guided in said boxes for vertical adjustment, vertically extending suspension rods passed through apertures in the tops of said boxes and connected at their lower ends to said journals, means for supporting and vertically adjusting said suspension rods and therewith said journals, a conveyor foot shaft journaled in said journals, and a hopper connected to said journals for adjustment therewith.

3. In elevating apparatus, a boot having vertically extending slots inv opposite side walls 3 foot shaft extending across the boot, Avertically il.'

adjustable bearing blocks supporting said foot shaft, vertically extending suspension rods pivoted at their lower ends to said bearing blocks on horizontal axes transverse to the shaft axis, and means for supporting and vertically adjusting said rods. n Y

5. In elevating apparatus, a boot, a conveyor foot shaftextending across the boot, vertically adjustable bearings supporting said foot shaft, a hopper comprising a bottom portion and a top portion, said hopper being supported by said bearings intermediate the depth of the hopper, andY band-like portions'secured to the boot and depending therefrom and into the top portion of said hopper.

iii@

6. In elevating apparatus, a boot, a conveyor foot shaft extending across the boot, the boot having vertically extending guide-ways in its side Wall, bearing blocks supporting the ends of said shaft and vertically movable in said guide-ways, vertically extending parallel ribs in said guide- Ways engaging said bearing blocks to prevent axial movement thereof, a hopper supported on said bearing blocks for vertical movement therewith, and vertically extending ribs on the boot engaging said hopper to prevent lateral movement thereof with respect to said shaft. 

